This invention relates in general to a securely enclosed automatic teller machine, which is commonly referred to as an ATM in the art. More particularly this invention relates to an automatic teller machine securely enclosed in a telescoping enclosure.
It is known that in banking facilities, considerations of both space and security have limited the usefulness of automatic teller machines. When these automatic teller machines are installed in banks, it is necessary to provide secure access to the service panel of the machine so that repair work can be done and so that cash can be replaced. The secure access must be provided using a minimum of floor space. When these automatic teller machines are installed in locations outside of banks, the problem of providing secure access to the service panel and the problem of minimizing the total space taken up becomes more acute than in a bank building.
One way of providing secure access to an automatic teller machine using a minimum amount of floor space is disclosed in my pending application Ser. No. 313,209, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,670, filed on Oct. 20, 1981. My '209 application discloses a secure telescoping enclosure for an automatic teller machine which includes a rear enclosure wall that moves from a retracted position backwardly to a protracted position to thereby define first and second enclosures. Although the enclosure of the '209 application uses only a small amount of floor space it does necessitate the use of floor space behind the rear wall so that it can be moved to its protracted position.
Although disclosing a free standing teller machine enclosure for use in drive-up bank facilities, my pending application Ser. No. 556,966 filed on Dec. 1, 1983 is generally relevant to this art.
When automatic teller machines are installed in existing buildings, it is often advantageous to provide access to the rear service panel of the teller machine from in front of the front wall of the enclosure. This is particularly true when little or no space can be used behind the enclosure as is usually the case where the ATM is built into an existing wall. However, a problem exists because the space in front of the enclosure is normally non-secured space which is visable and accessible to the public.
Accordingly, it is a purpose of the present invention to provide a securely enclosed automatic teller machine which requires the allocation of very little floor space behind the enclosure.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide a secure enclosure for a teller machine which permits access to the rear service panel of the machine from an area forward of the front panel of the machine.
Another purpose of this invention is to provide such an enclosure which enables the non-secured area in front of the enclosure to be quickly and easily secured.